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To say a lot of people were caught off guard by today's sudden announcement between Verizon and Apple would be an understatement. And, for that reason alone, all attention is turning to the latest report from Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher & Co., who says a Verizon iPhone is similarly "on track" for March of next year. Marshall is the source who stated on record that a Verizon-Apple partnership (in some capacity) would happen long before AT&T exclusivity is dropped for the iPhone. And it turns out he was right, given the freshly announced deal that Verizon will carry Apple's Wi-Fi iPad.

But Verizon won't be alone on the list of carriers to get the iPhone. "It won't be just for Verizon," Marshall said. "There are international carriers that use CDMA, like KDDI in Japan, so I expect that Apple will make a big global push, not only in the U.S." If the carrier expansion is to ultimately happen, a veritable tidal wave of iPhone sales could result both domestically and abroad.

Marshall's sources - Asian parts suppliers - are lending credence to what the Wall Street Journal reported last week about Apple mass-producing a CDMA-capable iPhone, and that "Verizon would start selling the device early next year."
The result? "Apple will sell an additional 11.5 million units with Verizon," Marshall projects, noting that "[Sales at] AT&T would go down only a couple million."

True or false? One gets the sense that we're about to find out once and for all.